I'll agree with the smaller course load too. I am by no means the hardest working, or smartest person, and a far cry from being organized. I have pathetic time management skills, but I'm trying to do one thing at a time since I'm pretty much starting from scratch. BLOZ UP's high school story sounds familiar, but I did put a little more effort in. I can't imagine taking 18 credits a semester full of full on engineering courses. I'm taking something like 14-16 credits, the courses being College Composition II, Calc 1 (for the last time), Physics, and College Algebra, since I've forgotten a lot of it and it makes for a good GPA booster as well, which I desperately need. I could still study much harder, but I'm finding that putting in a fair amount of effort is resulting in some pretty decent grades. Not amazing, but still much better than ever before. And the real shocker? I'm kind of enjoying it.
Sorry for the additional posts, but I am continuously being reminded of things that have either been a problem, or been to my benefit.